That Sam was unerringly faithful was obvious, and had been so forever. Frodo had always known this but had come over the years to take it for granted. Sam had pledged his life to his master, but it took seeing the devotion in action for Frodo to truly realize what he had. He had pulled the drowning hobbit - drowning, indeed, in the name of Frodo - out of the water and never had he been so overjoyed to see that stout face. It was from that moment that he really saw Sam and wondered about that bond. Sam was willing to die for him, almost had already, but it seemed unfair that he had to wonder whether he would do the same.
Sam was filled with such a devotion for Frodo, he couldn't put it into words. Sure, Pippin and Merry were very loyal friends at that, but this was something above and beyond. It was this loyalty that Frodo depended upon, he realized. Long he had taken it for granted and wished he hadn't for it was a truly beautiful thing. Sam was faithful like an excellent dog, one that tried to attend to his master's every need. Indeed Frodo remembered their first meeting with Elves, and the meeting of the Council, when Sam rested at Frodo's feet.
Frodo suddenly felt offended that he should think of his servant so. Sam was so much more than a loyal hound. He was a respectable hobbit that Frodo should be thankful for. And that he was. Always he had noted Sam's presence only as that it was there, and would always be there. The events of today showed that one day that could not always be so. Sam could be taken away from him and before he could show the little hobbit just how thankful he was to have such a companion. So as they found a safe place to camp soon after that breaking of the Fellowship in the Emyn Muil, Frodo began helping Sam set up.
"Oh no, Mr Frodo. I'll see to that," Sam protested.
"I should like to help you though," said Frodo.
"Oh just you relax there Mr Frodo, and your Sam will have everything seen to."
"I am sure you will, Sam, and never doubted that." Sam just paused and smiled before continuing about his work. Frodo waited until he had finished and both had eaten their rations to speak again. "I do miss a good hobbit-meal down at Bag End," he sighed.
"Aye, me too, sir. And a proper bed."
"Come sit before me, Sam, and I will massage your shoulders. It shan't make up for lack of a proper bed but it will relax you and may make the ground seem a bit more hospitable."
"No, you needn't be doing that Mr Frodo. I--"
"Nonsense, Sam. I wish to." And so, obedient to his master's wishes as always, Sam sat tentatively in front of Frodo's knees. "I know you've been carrying in that pack more weight than you should and to spare me trouble, but it isn't healthy for you," he said after he had started the kneading.
Sam tensed even more at that. "But Mr Frodo, I wanted you only to worry about that Ring and your quest."
"Worry about the Ring I shall, of course, but I worry about you too my dear Sam."
"Don't go a-worrying about your Sam now, sir. I'm just your most faithful servant."
"So you are, and a finer one no hobbit could ask for nor find." Frodo could see enough of the other hobbit's face to tell that he was beaming.
"Why thank you Mr Frodo. Thank you for saying such nice things."
Frodo felt that somehow there was more to say, but fell silent and concentrated upon the stiff knots lodged in the muscles of Sam's broad, strong back. The younger hobbit soon relaxed and Frodo smiled as he nodded. "I think it's time for a rest," he said softly, and eased a sleepy Sam to a comfortable position on the ground as the other hobbit muttered "Thank you Mr Frodo" several times as he fell asleep. Frodo himself found a comfortable spot nearby, where he could keep watch, both upon the outside world and the hobbit before him.
He really wondered about this feeling that came with the new awareness of Sam. As he looked upon Sam's features delicately softened in contended sleep, it seemed to him that the tug in his heart might be something called love. Certainly he always had loved his servant but it seemed now to be edged with a different degree. And it seemed to defy all that was right and proper that he learned as a hobbit in the Shire. Hobbit-men and hobbit-women fell in love and so little hobbit-children were produced. That was right and proper. Then it struck him that it was not right and proper to adventure out into the world beyond the Shire and he had long defied that. He seemed somehow beyond the Shire's ideas of right and proper. Even the craziest Took in his wildest dreamings never considered challenging the Dark Lord and Frodo was indeed living that impossible dream. The Shire's right and proper had been shattered in him and so it seemed no greater wrong to look lovingly upon Sam's face than to be here on a quest to destroy the One Ring. Except that, what would Sam think? Innocent Sam, who hoped somewhere in his heart to return to Hobbiton to marry a proper hobbit-woman who would make him a good wife as he continued his simple work in Frodo's garden. Where in that sweet heart was there room for him to consider the indecency Frodo's own heart proposed?
No, of course he would say nothing of this to Sam. He would continue on this quest and be forever thankful for this lovely companion. Surely this adventure would kill them, the likeliest possibility in Frodo's mind. But he hoped innocent Sam would not be jaded. Since leaving the Shire, he had seen the hobbit mature, seen new sides of his faithful servant, but he had seen that even through that, Sam was innocent and true all the way through. He hoped that would never change. That was the Sam he loved: the hobbit that was brighter than he seemed but so full of good intentions. Even as Sam tried to see his master safely through his quest, Frodo would try to see his faithful Sam safely home, no matter the cost, a mission second only to saving the world.